Sir Paul Smith needs your envelopes to decorate his new Soho store

Our jolly good friend Paul Smith (that clunking sound was the BIGGEST name being dropped) is opening a new shop in London’s Soho and he wants you to help decorate it. Paul gets sent the most extraordinary array of things from around the world and his studio is jam-packed with everything from scale models to hand-knitted blankets. He is always particularly struck by the beautiful envelopes and packages that arrive at his offices every day and that gave him an idea. So for his new Beak Street store he plans to showcase some of the weird and wonderful envelopes that he receives – you can send them to Paul Smith, 46 Beak Street, London, W1F 9RJ and make sure you include a return address as well. The closing date for entries is May 27.

The It’s Nice That Podcast has begun over on Radio Wolfgang, a series that will evaluate popular creative works and assess why they’re so successful. In this first episode, It’s Nice That founders Will Hudson and Alex Bec unwrap the credentials of a distinctive christmas advert, questioning whether it’s “a psychological science or a creative dark art?”

Today America decides whether it is “stronger together” or if it wants to be made “great again”. Over the past few months one of the most hotly contested, shocking and savage presidential campaigns ever has played out. Tomorrow, should the losing candidate decide to concede, the new president of the USA will be either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.

In July, we asked three art directors how they arrived in their role, and what it takes to lead a creative team. Now, in association with fashion talent company Mastered, It’s Nice That explores the line between creativity and commercial success.

Beirut is a city of contradictions, both buoyed and bound by its past and present; the push and pull between its history and future is particularly acute in the divergent experiences of older and younger generations. The Lebanese Civil War ended in the autumn of 1990, and now the generation born at or towards its end, who have lived through its consequences and inherited its legacy from their families are working towards a new creativity, one that recognises but is not necessarily defined by history.

The Adobe Creative Residency gives talented individuals the opportunity to focus on a personal project for a year. Meanwhile Adobe Create magazine explores behind the scenes, sharing the artist’s process and passion along the way.

The final instalment of The Night series, created by Vice Sports for Samsung, follows downhill racing champion Katy Curd careering through the Forest of Dean on her bike after the sun has set. Shot by Nick Ahlmark, a documentary film maker who has worked for the likes of Al Jazeera, Ride The Night: Downhill into Darkness sees riders speed along narrow tracks as the forest emerges from and fades into the inky black of the night, illuminated by the lamps mounted on handlebars. Drones speed along, capturing the riders as they race along tracks, slashing through the darkness as the trees and foliage are reduced to a blur. “You can’t just rely on your sight. You rely on your natural instincts,” says Katy. “It brings on different emotions as you test your skills in a different way.”